Highland Park delays phase 2 of downtown master plan

The City of Highland Park cut $60,000 in funding for a downtown redesign from its 2013 budget, postponing the second phase of its plan to modernize the central business district.

City Council members eliminated the money when they finalized the city's $95.6 million budget in late November. The city had initially allocated the money to pay a consulting group to design a new downtown streetscape.

Al Klairmont, outgoing chairman of the Downtown Highland Park Alliance, supports the city's decision to cut the funding. He said it needed to focus on the first phase of the project, which creates a new zoning map for downtown.

"There's plenty for our city to do to follow up with the planning that we have been given on zoning," said Klairmont, who owns about 10 downtown properties. "I don't think further guidance is necessary at this time."

The rezoning and redesign of downtown are parts of a three-phase plan proposed by the Lakota Group, a Chicago-based design firm, in partnership with the city and local business and property owners.

Phase I focuses on ways to rezone downtown and allow for higher-density developments. On Jan. 17, the Lakota Group will present its zoning recommendations to the City Council.

Deputy City Manager Ghida Neukirch said that with the first phase underway, the city would have likely started the second phase early this year.

Michael Blue, director of community development, said the goal of phase II was to develop a more modern — and "greener" — aesthetic for downtown. Its streetscape was last renovated in the early 1980s, when sustainability was an afterthought for most urban designers.

In phase II, the Lakota Group was to create two to three conceptual sketches with features such as sustainable streetlights, new signs and "gateway" entrances to downtown. The city would then select its preferred design and develop a budget to pay for its implementation.

"We don't lose much by waiting a year," Blue said. "When the time is right we'll do it. It wouldn't hurt to city from a marketing perspective."

Kevin Clark, vice-president of the Lakota Group, estimates the three-phase plan would take 10 to 12 months to complete.

Neukirch said the decision to delay phase II was about priorities and the result of a tight budget.

"That's not to say that it will not happen," she added.

The priorities that trumped the new master plan for downtown include funding for two more traffic safety officers, one more fire inspector and more than $300,000 in additional funding for facility maintenance.

The 2013 budget also allocates $300,000 for sidewalk improvements and another $300,000 in renovations to the library.

To offset the library's proposed property tax levy increase, council members agreed to pay for its capital improvements with money from the city's reserve fund.